The Race - Part 2 (Patreon)

Melissa did her best not to let her confidence get the best of her; two of her opponents were down, but there were still a handful still out there, ahead of her. Luckily, she'd reached one of the spots she knew would be unmonitored. She glanced back, making sure nobody had come to collect the red-faced Leah yet - she only saw the young couple who had spotted the girl's diaper, now apologizing profusely - and ducked into the forest herself.

The woods were technically the school's property, and they were always bragging about them, saying how beautiful they were, how nice it was for their students to be able to take a break and stroll through them... Melissa had never really bothered to do that. She'd studied the path, however, and she was pretty sure she knew where she needed to go to shave some time off of the race, and still be seen by the next person keeping an eye out for cheaters.

With the town being so close, there were always townsfolk walking through the forest - part of the reason Melissa didn't like going in herself. The other part had to do with all the things she knew lived deeper into the woods than townfolk, or even most students, were supposed to go... There was supposedly a magical barrier to keep anyone from inadvertently wandering in, or anything really dangerous from wandering out, but it all seemed like a bad idea to Melissa. Then again, a lot of the magical ingredients they used for potions were gathered in that part of the forest by teachers, and very advanced students, so she supposed it made sense why they kept it there... She just didn't like going in herself.

Her first shortcut didn't seem to do much of anything; she caught a glimpse of another of the girls' backs, but that was about it. Had she made a mistake? Was she just so slow that even cheating wasn't going to be enough to give her a chance? But after her next one, she had nearly caught up, and the one after put her squarely in the middle of the pack, much to the annoyance of the girls she slipped in front of. She could only hope that, if they tattled on her, the Headmistress would assume they were just angry that they'd been beaten.

Her confidence began to return, even as she struggled to keep up and maintain the pace with everyone else. She had one more shortcut, though this would be the most difficult one to pull off, since she was in easy view of everyone behind her now... Luckily, she'd planned for that, reaching past the waistband of her skirt to the pocket of her shorts and taking out her phone. She already had the message typed out, and all she had to do was drop a pin for her location.

Right on time, a group of teens from the local, non-magical, high school poured into the area. Melissa hadn't known the complete details when she'd contacted them, promising various glamours and easy spells - officially, they weren't supposed to tell any of the townfolk what they were really studying, but most of them knew anyway - in return for just running interference... It turned out to be even more satisfying, as the girls noticed the diaper on one of the contestants, which prompted them to start looking harder at the others... From the sound of laughter behind her, Melissa had a feeling she'd just knocked out most of her competition.

When she popped out of the woods, she looked behind herself, seeing the fastest girls, the ones she'd been most worried about. It might have worried her, but the side gate they were all heading for was just a few feet away, and she was already pulling something else out of the pocket of her shorts. There were more people around, enjoying the lovely weather, so she drew some strange looks, but her diaper was well covered, so - judging by the fact that her thumb stayed out of her mouth - it wasn't spotted.

She pushed open the gate, slipped through, slammed it shut right in front of Abby, who, she had to admit, had gotten too close for comfort. "Let me in!" the girl hissed. When Melissa shook her head, Abby narrowed her eyes. "You can't stay here forever, you know..."

"I don't have to," Melissa smirked. She looped the zip tie she'd taken from her pocket around the center of the gate, pulling it tight. Maybe it would be seen as cheating, but the Headmistress had never exactly prohibited it...

"You bitch!" Abby yelled, shaking the gate. "This isn't fair!"

"You know what?" Melissa said. "You're right... Here." She took a pair of scissors from her pocket, handing them to Abby, only to drop them right before they reached the other girl's hand. "Oops... Sorry, gotta go."

She snuck peeks behind herself as she went, watched the rage build up in Abby's eyes while she bent forward, trying to reach for the scissors on the ground, until the inevitable result of her outburst came, and her grasping hand moved up to her mouth while her eyes, glistening with tears, widened in shock and disgust before sinking out of view.